Egypt police, army officers probed over alleged torture

CAIRO — Four police and army officers were referred to the military prosecution on Thursday, after a video was posted online showing officers assaulting two detainees, the official MENA news agency reported.

The footage circulating on social networking websites shows members of the army and security forces slapping and tasering two handcuffed detainees.

Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi had ordered an investigation into the incident, which took place in the Nile Delta province of Daqahliya, MENA said.

On Wednesday, London-based advocacy group Amnesty International said that based, on the video posted, detainees “are still being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in Egypt.”

Routine police abuse and torture were prevalent during the Mubarak era and were a driving force behind the massive popular protests that ousted him on February 11.

“The uniforms may have been replaced with new ones but the behaviour of the security forces seems to be the same,” Amnesty said in a statement.

“The army and security officers in the video must immediately be suspended pending the result of the investigation.”

Amnesty said the “deeply disturbing video” appears to show members of the army and security forces beating and electrocuting detainees.

The most high-profile case to have dominated headlines and sparked demonstrations was of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man beaten to death by two undercover police officers on an Alexandria street last year.

A Facebook page dedicated to him, “We are all Khaled Said,” was one of several that helped launch the call for anti-regime protests on January 25, and the page is still active.